More

Both children were in stable condition at Dallas Children's Medical Center after a shooting was reported around 2:10 a.m. Tuesday in the 9400 block of Royal Lane.

Several bullet holes are visible in and around the door of an apartment where inside a 13-year-old boy was shot in the back of the head and a 10-year-old girl was shot in the back early Tuesday morning at La Bella Palms in the 9400 block of Royal Lane in Dallas on June 25, 2019.

An overnight shooting left a boy and a girl hospitalized Tuesday and their Lake Highlands neighbors shaken — but not because violence is unfamiliar to the community.

"You used to find bodies popping up. We would find bodies just sitting over here in cars for days or weeks," 16-year-old Justin Spead said. "It's gotten a lot better; it's mellowed out.

"This right here is shocking because ... it's right in the middle of the apartment."

Dallas police are investigating the shooting at La Bella Palms in the 9400 block of Royal Lane. Shortly after 2 a.m., a group fired several rounds from an automatic weapon into the apartment, police said.

One bullet hit a 13-year-old boy in the back of the head, and another grazed a 10-year-old girl in the back.

Both were taken to Children's Medical Center Dallas and listed as stable. A 37-year-old man inside the apartment was not injured, police said.

No information was available about the shooters, and a motive for the crime remains unclear.

Several bullet holes are visible in and around the door of an apartment at La Bella Palms where a 13-year-old boy was shot in the back of the head and a 10-year-old girl was shot in the back early Tuesday morning in Dallas on June 25, 2019.(Brian Elledge / Staff Photographer)

mobile-only dfpPosition1

The shooting comes amid a spike in violent crime in Dallas. In May alone, 40 people were killed, and last week the city surpassed 100 homicides already this year.

That's twice as many homicides as were reported in the first half of 2018, leading a shorthanded Dallas Police Department to shore up its homicide division with additional resources and the governor to send state troopers to the city as reinforcements.

On Tuesday morning, shattered glass still littered the ground outside the apartment where the children were shot. Neither was identified.

In the nearby courtyard, Spead talked to his 19-year-old friend Baby Dinkins, who used to play with the boy who was shot.

Both said they were ready to move away from La Bella Palms after the shooting.

"It just makes me want to watch my back more now because that happened," Spead said.

They also noted that innocent victims have gotten caught in the crossfire at the complex before.

In September 2013, an 8-year-old boy playing tag with friends was shot in the face when he approached an armed man in the parking lot.

mobile-only dfpPosition2

Brian Cloninger, who says he mistook the boy for a robber, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for a shooting that permanently disfigured Donald "DJ" Maiden Jr.

"This is not the first time a kid has gotten shot over here," Spead said.

Loyd Brumfield, Breaking News producer. Loyd has covered breaking news for The Dallas Morning News since 2017. A native of Southeast Texas, he has been with The Dallas Morning News since 2007 and has worked in multiple roles: communities editor, communities reporter and breaking news producer.

Paul Cobler, Politics Reporting Fellow. Paul Cobler covers politics for The Dallas Morning News in Washington, DC. Paul is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism. While there, he worked at the school's student newspaper, The Daily Texan, and interned for newspapers across the state.